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My Terminal Setup in 2026

field note
toolingproductivity

I spend most of my day in the terminal. Here’s my current setup.

Shell: zsh + minimal config

I use zsh with a handful of plugins — no heavy framework like oh-my-zsh. Just:

  • starship for a fast, informative prompt
  • zsh-autosuggestions for history-based completion
  • fzf for fuzzy finding everything

Key aliases

alias g="git"
alias gst="git status -sb"
alias gco="git checkout"
alias gd="git diff"
alias k="kubectl"
alias d="docker"
alias dc="docker compose"

Editor: VS Code + vim keybindings

I use VS Code for most work but with vim keybindings enabled. The combination gives me the speed of vim motions with the ecosystem of VS Code extensions.

tmux for session management

I keep three tmux windows open: editor, server logs, and a scratch terminal. tmux sessions persist across SSH disconnects, which is essential when working on remote machines.

The philosophy

Keep it simple, keep it fast. Every tool I add has to earn its place by saving me time daily, not just looking cool in a screenshot.